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Nectanebo II
Nectanebo II (ruled 360 - 343 BC), also known by the name Nakhthoreb, was the third and last king of the Thirtieth dynasty of Egypt and also the last native Egyptian ruler of the country in antiquity. Nectanebo was placed on the Egyptian throne by the Spartan king Agesilaus II, who helped him overthrow Teos and fight off a rival pretender. After a reign of 17 years, he was defeated by the Persian king Artaxerxes III, and fled first to Memphis then into Upper Egypt, and finally into exile in Nubia, where he vanishes from history. With Nectanebo's flight, all organized resistance to the Persians collapsed, and Egypt once again was reduced to a satrapy of the Persian Empire. Nectanebo II's sarcophagus was found in modern times in a mosque at Alexandria; his intended burial "presumably lay at his native town of Sebennytos."Bill Manley, The Seventy Great Mysteries of Ancient Egypt" Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2003. p.101 At some point in time, the king's sarcophagus was "used as a water container, bath, or a tank for ablutions, as shown by the twelve draining holes drilled around the base."Sarcophagus of Nectanebo II It today resides in the British Museum. Nectanebo's gold stater stater.]] Nectanebo II has the distinction of being the pharaoh to have minted a gold coin with hieroglyphs. The reverse of the coin has a horse reared on its back legs;Schulz, Seidel, 1998. Egypt: The World of the Pharaohs, Editors, Regine Schulz, Matthias Seidel, Konemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne, English translation version. p. 370. (obverse, reverse) (hardcover, ISBN 3-89508-913-3) the obverse has two hieroglyphs, in ligature, the necklace of gold, nb, upon the nfr symbol for beauty. (Perfect gold, or in modern translation: '' 'Fine' gold.) Nectanebo and the Alexander Romance There is an apocryphal tale, appearing in the pseudo-historical ''Alexander Romance, which details another end for the last Egyptian Pharaoh of Egypt. Soon after Alexander the Great's godhood was confirmed by the Oracle of Zeus Ammon, a rumor was begun that Nectanebo II did not travel to Nubia but instead to the court of Philip II of Macedon in the guise of an Egyptian magician. There, while Philip was away on campaign, Nectanebo convinced his wife Olympias that Amun was to come to her and that they would father a son. Nectanebo, disguising himself as Amun, slept with Olympias and from his issue came Alexander.Ogen, Daniel, Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook. Oxford University Press, 2002, ISBN 978-0195135756, p. 59 searchable at http://www.amazon.com/dp/019513575X This myth would hold strong appeal for Egyptians who desired continuity and harbored a strong dislike for foreign rule. obelisk of King Nectanebo II. According to the vertical inscriptions he set up this obelisk at the doorway of the sanctuary of Thoth, the Twice-Great, Lord of Hermopolis. Nowadays it is placed in the British Museum, London.]] References External links * Nectanebo II * Livius.org: Nectanebo II Category:4th-century BC deaths Category:Alexander the Great Category:Pharaohs of the Thirtieth dynasty of Egypt cs:Nachthareheb de:Nektanebos II. es:Nectanebo II eu:Nektanebo II.a fr:Nectanébo II hr:Nektanebo II. it:Senedjeminbra setepenamon la:Nectanebos II nl:Nectanebo II no:Nectanebo II pl:Nektanebo II pt:Nectanebo II ro:Nectanebo al II-lea ru:Нектанеб II sh:Nektaneb II sv:Nektanebos II vi:Nectanebo II